Fully Loaded Stuffed Peppers

Today the hubster requested to have Stuff Peppers done my way. This coming from a guy that can really throw down in the kitchen, and loves to make these himself, I was so honored. His version of this scrumptious dish is quite simple: Peppers stuffed with ground meat, rice, lots of onions and seasoning. And it is amazing. My guy can cook you’ll. There is no contest to be had in our house. So I decided to simply load this recipe up with a bit more umpf. Cause you know, that’s my way!

I love peppers! I literally use them in just about every recipe I create or in everyday cooking. It’s a staple in my kitchen along with onions, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots and a few other favorites. I believe you can fit any variety of vegetables in any meal. So I decided to add in a few chopped veggies and a bit of my favorite seasonings, some cheese and zesty stewed veggies to make this a perfect meal.

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground meat*

4 to 6 bell peppers, cored (multi-color)

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 large mushrooms, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 onion, finely diced

1 medium zucchini, finely diced

½ medium yellow squash, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

½ cup loose corn

2 tomatoes, seeded and finely diced

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1 tablespoon fresh oregano

ground salt and pepper to taste

1 cup Monterey jack cheese**

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1 ½ cups brown cooked rice***

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare pan with a few tablespoons of water or a tomato sauce.

In a large sauce pan or skillet lightly heat oil and cook ground meat on medium heat until pink is gone. Do not over cook. Using a slotted spatula, remove meat from pan and pat dry with paper towel.

Add in tomatoes, ground meat and rice to the pan. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Add cheese, stir together and then remove from heat.

Fill peppers with mixture and top with cheese if you would like. Drizzle olive oil over peppers and set in prepared pan. Cover with foil and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove foil and back for 15 minutes until cheese is melted or lightly browned.

Note *You can use any ground meat you prefer. For this we used lean beef. But I have made this with ground turkey and it came out great.

** I used Monterey Jack cheese simply because it was what I had on hand. But your favorite cheese will do!

*** Same with the rice. You can use white, brown or wild rice. You may desire to cut it out of the mixture all together and serve it as a side. That is also a way to go with this recipe.